How prominent is driking on campus?

shoebox10
Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:56:08 +0000

I did drink, although far less after 21 I think, but I found a healthy balance within my circle of friends. Some nights we’d rage hard, but some nights we’d sit around playing Need For Speed (although often, those nights would end up us getting a case and “drunk driving”…although we never got really drunk, just tipsy enough we would hit a few more walls and throw controllers at each other) or Wii or go see a concert or movie or just sit around and talk. It was nice because I seemed to have enough friends that made that balance with me that if I wanted to go out and forget about my major, I could. But if I just wanted to sit around and watch a movie or trashy TV or go shopping or something, I could find someone feeling the same vibe. Fourth year, I never really went to parties outside of birthdays/specific celebrations because most of the time people preferred either social drinking in an apt/house or bars. I think a good handful of people are like that, but there are a lot of “let’s go out every night” and there are “I will never ever drink”.

Moral of the story? If you do want to get shwasty every night (which, btw, that reputation catches up with you…and STDs are a gift that keep on givin!), there’s people to do that. Alcohol does play a large part in college life…that’s life. Ask one of the old-school alumni on here about Easters, they’ll tell you how crap got done. But at the same time, there are people that don’t drink at all (I knew quite a few). And there are ones like me who enjoy a brewski and sometimes take it too far, but I know limits and sometimes I’d rather not spend half of the next day drowning myself in carbs and OJ.

On a completely separate note, to anyone who plans on drinking at any point in college: QUICKLY learn what will help cure your hangover. Sure, drinking water helps immensely but I always found if I got up and chugged a glass, bad news bears! Instead, I find heavy fiber (mini-wheats, oatmeal, whole wheat toast), eggs, and OJ/juice high in potassium/VitC are my hangover helper. I know someone who pizza and ice cold water is they’re way to go. Bodos is heaven on earth to anyone’s hangover, but $4 bagels add up. Bananas are great, as are sports drinks like Gatorade, and really any food that is energy boosting. The key is hydrating(!!), balancing sugars/carbs, and getting some usable calories in you, since you consumed nothing but empty calories the night/day before and your body is in half-shutdown mode. Also, preparing the night before is key too, make sure you eat before drinking and don’t try to drown yourself in alcohol, be responsible. You do risk death when drinking like that, but 90% of the time you either throw-up, fall down, or blackout and do something embarrassing and your friends tell you to stop drinking and go home. Any of the above is bad, try to avoid incidents and keep an eye on your friends. Also, enough alcohol violations and you risk being suspended (watched a dear friend go through that. A lot of dumb bad luck, but they didn’t really care)
Anyways, find what helps you kick that hangover. And don’t always turn to OTC meds, otherwise you’ll end up with an ulcer. Not encouraging drinking here, just offering friendly health advice :)